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Saturday, November 7, 2020

'Inexcusable' offensive performance, red zone woes doom Huskers in ugly loss to Northwestern - HuskerExtra.com

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EVANSTON, Ill. — One more time, Nebraska pushed the ball deep into Northwestern territory.

One more time, the Huskers came up short against a stingy Wildcats defense.

In a matchup that’s been decided so often in recent years by late drama and execution in critical moments, Pat Fitzgerald’s team prevailed over Scott Frost’s, 21-13, largely because those departments decidedly favored Northwestern.

Your turn to grade the Huskers' performance.

Quarterback position appears as open as ever as NU looks for 'spark' with McCaffrey

The final try for the Huskers, a fourth-down incompletion from redshirt freshman Luke McCaffrey to sophomore receiver Wan’Dale Robinson at the goal line, was emblematic, too, of the frustration that built and built over the course of three hours at Ryan Field on an otherwise brilliant November Saturday.

Seven times the Huskers had the ball inside Northwestern’s 25-yard line. Those drives finished like this: Field goal, field goal, missed field goal, touchdown, interception, interception, turnover on downs.

“We didn’t play a disciplined-enough game. It's inexcusable that we only had 13 points in that game,” Frost said afterward. “I give a ton of credit to them. They’re always good on defense, they did a good job. To play like we played and only have 13 points, that starts with me.

“I have to make sure that the guys are in good position to put points on the board.”

In fact, Nebraska’s lone touchdown drive covered just 3 yards after a first-half interception from redshirt freshman safety Myles Farmer. That means the other 439 yards, amassed on Nebraska’s other 87 offensive snaps, turned into just six points.

The Huskers, who outgained Northwestern by 125 yards, had the ball at the Wildcats' 25-yard line or deeper seven times on the day. Instead of cashing in, the Nebraska offense petered out. A Northwestern defense that had to work hard in the first half continued a fantastic start to the season. In three wins, Fitzgerald's defense has allowed exactly zero second-half points.

Frost thought his football team was primed to break through and earn the kind of victory that represents a step forward for a program trying to gain its footing.

Instead, it broke down, the works gummed up by the kind of mistakes that have caused the program to sputter and chug rather than kick into gear.

Penalties? Check. Eight of them for 55 yards after eight for 90 yards against Ohio State. Missed tackles? Check. They seemed to come in bunches on a day when the defense otherwise played well overall.

Special teams? Those stung, too, particularly a pair of long returns, a 38-yard field goal miss from senior Connor Culp after he made his first two tries (38 and 32) and a penalty that pushed Nebraska’s last-ditch drive back inside its own 10 to start.

The back-breaking mistakes, though? They came in the red zone. A pair of interceptions, one each by junior Adrian Martinez and redshirt freshman Luke McCaffrey, that turned scoring chances into dust.

Martinez's came late in the third quarter when he came back to the middle of the field late and threw a ball up for grabs toward tight end Austin Allen, a mistake that quarterbacks can ill-afford to make, particularly into the end zone.

It was enough for Frost to take Martinez out of the game and put McCaffrey in. The dynamic redshirt freshman led the Huskers down the field on a nine-play, 70-yard march, only to have a second-and-goal pass attempt deflected up into the air and intercepted by Chris Bergan around the goal line with 6 minutes, 5 seconds, remaining in the game.

Northwestern got a first down on a third-and-9 on a 15-yard completion from quarterback Peyton Ramsey (16-of-27, 197 yards, two touchdowns, two interceptions) to receiver Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman, but the Nebraska defense forced a punt and gave and the Huskers one more chance. 

A penalty for a block in the back by freshman Ronald Delancy moved the ball back to the Nebraska 8-yard line with 2:14 remaining and one timeout left. 

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“We do that situation every week in practice, we call it the clutch period and we put ourselves in situations just like that,” Allen said. “We go over that exact scenario and we drive down the field every week. We were confident in that situation, but just when it came time to make a play, things didn’t fall our way.”

The Grades: Northwestern 21, Nebraska 13

Indeed, they chewed through the bulk of the field quickly, covering 72 yards, but like far too much of Nebraska’s offensive production on the day, it turned into empty calories.

In a game that was virtually certain to come down to execution in the small parts of the game, the details, Northwestern arrived at the stadium with a far better track record and then showed it.

“Discipline in our program starts with me and the coaches to make sure that we have it,” Frost said. “That’s what we talked about all week is not just playing well but playing smart. And we didn’t. We made too many mistakes against a good team.

“We’ve got to get that fixed and I’ve got to get that fixed.”

Nebraska, though, had the lead at halftime thanks mostly to a strong overall defensive performance and a pair of big plays from Farmer.

The Atlanta native got an assist on his first interception but handled No. 2 solo.

The rangy redshirt freshman safety fielded a throw from Ramsey early in the second quarter after it bounded off of senior Husker safety Marquel Dismuke’s helmet, setting up Nebraska around midfield for a drive that ultimately ended in Culp’s second field goal of the first half.

Later in the quarter, Farmer made a big play all on his own, undercutting a Ramsey throw to the flat, picking it cleanly and running it back 37 yards to the Wildcats’ 3-yard line. He was stopped from scoring only by the Northwestern quarterback, who cut him down just shy of the end zone.

The Huskers capitalized on the next play, though, when senior running back Dedrick Mills punched in a scoring run for a 13-7 lead.

Frost deservingly gave credit for those seven points to Erik Chinander’s defense, which started slow but rebounded quickly. Northwestern running back Drake Anderson ripped off a 41-yard touchdown run to cap an 80-yard opening touchdown drive, but the Wildcats managed just 52 yards on 23 plays over the rest of the first half.

“I think really just getting settled down,” said sophomore inside linebacker Luke Reimer, who finished with a team-high 10 tackles (1½ for loss), a sack and a forced fumble in his first career start. “Just, nerves through the roof, but really settling down and just playing our game and knowing what we needed to do and doing our job. That was the biggest thing, I thought, after that first drive of the first half and the second half.”

Nebraska allowed only two first downs the rest of the half, forced two turnovers and sacked Ramsey.

Northwestern touchdown drives of 61 and 44 yards in the second half featured some mistakes from the Nebraska defense, sure, but the Huskers also started with a pair of special teams miscues. The Huskers allowed a 36-yard kick return to open the second half and set up Northwestern well out of the gates, and then a 36-yard Riley Lees punt return in the fourth quarter gave the Wildcats a short field that turned into a six-play scoring drive.

“Everybody in that locker room understands that what happened is unacceptable,” senior cornerback Dicaprio Bootle said. “We need to find ways to win no matter what.”

Another disparity in situational football: Northwestern started 1-of-5 on third down but then hit on 6-of-11 over the rest of the game. Nebraska? 4-of-16.

The bottom line is this: Nebraska knew coming in that it couldn’t make mistakes at the same rate it did against Ohio State and has too often in recent years, but the mistakes came anyway. The next challenge is a big one, too, with Penn State coming to Memorial Stadium next Saturday and the Huskers trying to avoid an 0-3 start.

"Listen, nobody is more impatient right now than me," Frost said. "We should be farther along right now than we are. I think we're there, we just have to go out on the field and make it happen and win football games. 

"That starts with me." 

Reach Clark Grell at 402-473-2639 or cgrell@journalstar.com. On Twitter at @LJSSportsGrell.

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November 08, 2020 at 04:53AM
https://journalstar.com/sports/huskers/football/inexcusable-offensive-performance-red-zone-woes-doom-huskers-in-ugly-loss-to-northwestern/article_974a0cfa-8aff-51b5-8035-a8c7934404c9.html

'Inexcusable' offensive performance, red zone woes doom Huskers in ugly loss to Northwestern - HuskerExtra.com

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